One current digital media download approach is based on secure digital (SD) cards as the primary media. A digital download kiosk 100 for use with such cards is illustrated in FIG. 1. To use the kiosk 100, a consumer inserts an SD card, such as card 200 illustrated in FIG. 2A into a connector 110 for receiving the card. The typical SD card measures 32×24×2.1 mm. The flash card memories therein follow a non-volatile memory format developed by Panasonic, San Disk and Toshiba for use in portable devices such as digital cameras, mobile phones, video game consoles and the like. The SD card 200 employs a series of contacts 210. Digital rights management (DRM) protection can be embedded in the secure SD card 200 which can utilize the content protection for recordable media (CPRM) format to protect digital media stored in secure storage therein. FIG. 2B shows a block diagram of the card 200 including contacts 210, an SD controller 220 and flash memory 230 including a block of secure flash memory 240 for storing DRM credentials and encryption keys.
Digital download systems like the system of FIG. 1 have many advantages. For example, they provide the ability to offer a wide range of entertainment content without the challenges of transporting and stocking inventory, such as stocking a supply of DVDs or the like. Additionally, they allow the use of well established and accepted digital rights management, such as CPRM, which is widely employed in the secure digital card consumer electronics flash memory format. U.S. Pat. No. 7,779,064 describes details of distributing digitally encoded content, such as movies, music, computer games to kiosk-like content-delivery systems, such as kiosk 100, and is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Solid state storage cards such as SD card 200 are a convenient and secure media for storing large amounts of data in a small form factor. However, inserting and removing the card in a self service, public environment, can be problematic. It is possible to insert a card incorrectly. In addition, although they are widely used in products such as cameras and mobile phones, they are usually used to expand the memory of such a device. Common usage is to insert the SD card into the device, and then leave it inside the device and access the card via the device often by means of the device's own USB port. The overall number of insert or retract cycles of such cards is relatively low and limited by the arrangement of the multiple contacts. Additionally, a wide variety of consumer electronic devices such as laptops include one or more USB ports, but do not include an SD card enabled port supporting access to the secure flash area of the card.
One solution is shown in FIG. 3A. That solution employs a separate reader module 300 for use in conjunction with the SD card 200 which is inserted therein. The reader module 300 employs a USB connector 350 represented schematically in FIG. 3A. FIG. 3B illustrates an alternative embodiment of an SD card and reader combination 375 employing a micro SD card 380 and reader 390 having the physical form of a common USB flash drive. This solution has its own issues requiring a consumer to keep track of both a small SD card and a small reader. If the two become separated, the user is out of luck. Also, the use of two separate items is costly, especially if a micro SD card is used as this format is typically obtained at a cost premium over standard SD, and offers slower performance.